Doctors are defined as "practising" physicians who provide direct care to patients.
In some countries (Canada, France, the Netherlands, the Slovak Republic, and Türkiye), due to data limitations, the figures refer to "professionally active" doctors, which include those working as health sector managers, educators, or researchers, in addition to those providing direct care. Doctors may be generalists responsible for ongoing care to individuals and families, or specialists such as paediatricians, obstetricians/gynaecologists, psychiatrists, medical specialists, and surgical specialists.
This indicator is expressed as the number of doctors per 1 000 inhabitants.